Fighting Pirates at Oysterhaven
November 1618.
Fergal Browne
In the archives of Kent, in England, there lies a handwritten document dated 1621. Written in Elizabethan script by Admiral Sir Thomas Button it declares itself to be:
A true accounte of services donne by his Majesties shippe the Phenix on the Coaste of Ireland, Under my commaund from July 1614 till this instant January 1621.’
The document lists out the various actions which Admiral Button and the crew of HMS Phoenix fought against Pirates along the Irish Coast. In item number six on the list, Button declares:
….Sixtlie Captaine Austins a piratt in a shipp of 100 Tonne att Oysterhaven fought with me from 8 in the morninge till 7 att nighte where he and three more of his men were slaine, some drowned, many hurte, his shipp forc’de and buldgde uppon the Rockes, the rest of his Company all taken & six of the Chiefest condemned att a Gaole delivery in Corke & so executed. The master allso for example sake (on the head lande nearest the place I tooke them att) was hanged in chaynes in November 1618’
So who was Admiral Sir Thomas Button, and why was he fighting Pirates off the Cork Coast in the early years of the Seventeenth Century?
Sir Thomas Button – Naval Service and Exploration
Thomas Button, was born c.1570, the fourth son of Miles Button, of Worleton in the parish of St. Lythans, Glamorganshire (Wales), and Margaret, daughter of Edward Lewis of Van, Caerphilly, Glamorganshire; He married Mary, daughter of Sir Walter Rice of Dynevor, Carmarthenshire, and the eldest of his three sons, Miles, married Barbara, daughter of Rhys Merrick, from whom she inherited the family estate of Cottrell in Glamorganshire: the Buttons were thus connected by marriage with some of the more influential landowning families in South Wales.
Little is known of Button’s early career, but his letters in his old age suggest that he first saw service in the English navy in the critical years 1588–89.
In 160l, he commanded the Queen’s pinnace, Moon, at Kinsale, playing a part in keeping the Spanish bottled up in Kinsale harbour and preventing them from being reinforced or resupplied. It was because of this siege both by land and by sea, that the Irish Chieftans O’Neill and O’Donnell begun the long march from Tyrone to Kinsale – which culminated in their tragic defeat at the Battle of Kinsale.
Button was commended for gallantry during his Captaincy of HMS Moon during the 1601 period and was awarded a pension of 6s. 8d. per diem for life.
In 1602 he sailed in command of the Wylloby on privateering raids in the West Indies. A privateer was essentially a licenced Pirate – whereby Governments gave private shipowners permission to loot and sink enemy ships. The Wylloby was owned by Button’s fellow Welshmen, Sir Robert Mansel, who became treasurer of the navy in 1604, and Sir John Trevor, surveyor of the navy. Owing to their influence he gained more important commands in the navy. It was with their backing that Button was selected in 1612 to command the expedition to find out what had become of the explorer Henry Hudson – after whom the Hudson River in New York is named and to complete “ye full and perfect discovery of the North-west Passage.” The North West Passage was a commercial sea-route to the Pacific Ocean around the top of North America and Canada as opposed to the usual route around the tip of South America.
Although he didn’t know it, Button was wasting his time searching for Hudson – as Hudson had been set adrift in a small boat by a mutinous crew in the previous spring, never to be seen again.
Button sailed on this exploration and search expedition in April 1612 in command of the Resolution and the Discovery. Button’s own journal of this voyage has been lost, but according to the fragments of it published in Capt. Luke Fox’s North-west Fox in 1635, Button penetrated Hudson Strait, naming the island at its entrance after his own ship, and eventually sailed southwestwards across what is now called Hudson Bay, and made landfall at a point which he called “Hopes Checkt.” He then sailed southwards and wintered at the mouth of a river which he named after Robert Nelson, master of the Resolution, who died there. The winter was extremely hard, and Button lost many men, but in the spring he sailed northwards from this area which he had called New Wales. Creeping uncertainly forward in fog and storms, Button probably reached his most northerly point towards the end of July in the channel afterwards named “Sir Thomas Roe’s Welcome,” and then turned southwards, mistakenly believing that he was stuck in a bay. In August he reached the island he named after his friend and kinsman, Mansel, and reluctantly decided to return home. This expedition made Thomas Button the first European to reach certain parts of Canada.
On Button’s return to England in 1614, he was appointed Admiral of the King’s ships on the Coast of Ireland – a position he would hold until his death in 1634.
Piracy off the Cork Coast
At the time of Button’s appointment, Piracy was rife off the Irish Coast and had been since the days of the Roman Empire. The Romans had maintained fleets to protect their commercial shipping, but once their Empire collapsed – Piracy was a common threat in European waters – with varying levels of intensity. The West Cork coastline was an ideal haven for Pirates, given the numerous small bays and inlets. Many Pirates received help and assistance from the local Chieftans – who were only happy to take a share in the spoils. In 1570 a prominent Kinsale Gentleman – Patrick Meade of Tissaxon and Meadstown – found himself arrested when it was revealed that he had two prominent Pirates – Whitehead and Johnston – on his payroll. Gentleman themselves were not above turning Pirate when it suited them. In 1616 Richard Boyle – Earl of Cork – noted in his diary that ‘Redmond Fitzgerald of Ballycryner has turned Pirate for the third time – God damn him’. It appears Fitzgerald had offered to accompany Sir Walter Raleigh on one of his voyages to the Americas – and had therefore been given a ship and crew. Having received them – he sailed away and turned to Piracy – leaving Raleigh to look after himself! On Sherkin Island, the local Vicar was a Pirate sympathiser, and Pirates even sat on Juries in the courts.
Many pirates had wives and children living in Cork – one gentleman complained that a particular pirate continued to escape Sir Thomas Button’s clutches – because his wife onshore was keeping him informed of Button’s whereabouts. In a time where autocracy and privilege were the norm – Pirates were unusually democratic. Each member of the crew was entitled to a share in the spoils – from the Captain down to the lowliest deckhand. Small wonder then, that many fishermen and sailing men embraced a life of Piracy, given the rewards on offer.
Not all Pirates operating in the area were local however. Stiff competition presented itself in the form of the Barbary Corsairs. The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were Muslim Pirates and Privateers who operated from North Africa from the time of the Crusades until the early 19th Century. Based in North African ports such as Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, Salé, and other ports in Morocco they sailed mainly along the stretch of northern Africa known as the Barbary Coast. Their area of operations extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa’s Atlantic seaboard, and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland. They primarily commandeered western European ships and usually attacked with galley ships with slaves or prisoners at the oars. In addition, they engaged in ‘Razzias’ – raids on European coastal towns, to capture slaves to sell at slave markets in places such as Algeria and Morocco. Rich men could buy their freedom – as happened when the Earl of Inchiquin – Murrough O’Brien, burner of Mount Long Castle – was captured by Corsairs. Even the Lord President of Munster – Lord Danvers -the King’s representative, had been trapped in Cork by a Pirate blockade – and admitted that he was too frightened to venture out to sea. Danvers stated furiously that the Pirates ‘would not leave the gates of hell unripped open in the hopes of gain’.
The most famous corsairs were the brothers Hayreddin Barbarossa (“Redbeard”) and Oruç Reis, who took control of Algiers in the early 16th century, establishing a centre of Mediterranean piracy. From 1609 to 1616, England lost 466 merchant ships to Barbary pirates. Some pirates were renegades. Two examples are Süleyman Reis, “De Veenboer”, who became admiral of the Algerian corsair fleet in 1617, and his quartermaster Murat Reis, born Jan Janszoon van Haarlem – both of these men were originally Dutch.
In 1611, the English Authorities admitted that the Pirates who plagued their ships and wrecked their commercial trade had two main bases: the Barbary Coast and the west Irish Coast. There was nothing they could do in the short-term about the Barbary Coast. However they began concerted efforts to stamp out Piracy in Ireland. Initially they used a ‘stick and carrot’ approach. While attempting to increase the English naval strength along the coast of Ireland, they offered all Pirates the opportunity to surrender in return for a pardon for their crimes. However, the latter course was not a huge success. An example of this can be seen in the case of the Pirate Captain William Baugh – who surrendered at Kinsale in 1612. Baugh had been referred to as a ‘Rear Admiral’ of a fleet of between nine and seventeen vessels. While in Spain, he received contact from the admiralty in London – offering terms under which he could surrender and be granted a pardon. Baugh agreed to sail to Kinsale and surrender there. However, he captured and looted every vessel that crossed his path while on the voyage to Kinsale and engaged in riotous living in Kinsale on the proceeds until they ran out. The slowness of communication between Kinsale and the centres of Government in Dublin and London, and the contradictory orders issued by the officials in each centre concerning the issue of the pardon, left Baugh sitting in Kinsale for several months. By the time the process was completed, almost all of Baugh’s crew had grown tired of waiting, and returned to Piracy.
The second course followed by the English Government was the building up of an anti-Pirate naval force – and this was where Thomas Button came in. Appointed in 1614 he enjoyed considerable success in a number of actions, prior to Oysterhaven, on board his ship HMS Phoenix. The Phoenix had been built in 1612 and carried twenty guns and sixty men – berthing 250 tons. Her bowsprit featured an intricate wooden carving of St. George – patron saint of England – slaying a dragon. In August 1614 he rescued a French ship which had been captured by Pirates and returned it to it’s owner. In September of the same year – he narrowly missed capturing Captain Walsingham – one of the areas most notorious Pirates – forcing him to flee Lough Foyle – leaving behind two of his ships aground. In December he was diverted to Scotland to assist in a siege of a castle on the isle of Islay which was being held by rebels. Button’s skilled seamanship in this operation earned him high praise and in 1616 he was knighted. The Knighthood was conferred in Dublin by Sir Oliver St John – then Lord Deputy of Ireland – who was also Button’s cousin. Button would continue to harass Pirates for the next 2 years – before he fought the action at Oysterhaven against the pirate Captain Austins in November 1618.
The Battle of Oysterhaven
Nothing is known of Captain Austins – not even the name of his ship. On Button’s original document – a cross has been drawn next to his name and written next to it is the word ‘Qua?’. This presumably means that a later scholar – undoubtedly more learned than myself – has failed to identify the mysterious Austins. However, we know from Button’s account that he sailed in a ship of 100 tons – less than half the size of the Phoenix. That he engaged for 11 hours with a vessel against which he was outmanned and outgunned is a tribute to his courage. It is likely, given the difference in size of the two ships that Austins spent much of his time trying to outmanouver Button and escape. It is also telling that Button refers to him in the document as Captain Austins – acknowledging his title rather than merely referring to him merely as a Pirate. We do not know where his ship eventually ran aground on the rocks – or upon which headland near Oysterhaven his Sailing Master was hanged in chains – as a warning to others. The Sailing Master was usually the ship’s navigator – and may have been the most senior officer left alive when the battle was over. Being killed in the battle presumably spared Austins from receiving this fate himself.
Sir Thomas Button would continue to hunt Pirates aboard HMS ‘Phoenix’ until early 1625 when he switched to a new vessel – HMS Antelope. In 1621 he took part in an expedition against the port of Algiers – when the English Navy attempted to cut the Barbary Corsairs off at the source. This expedition ended unsatisfactorily – but Button was one of the few to emerge with credit from it – being commended for his bravery during the action. At one point – he rowed a tiny rowing boat to and fro in front of his ship – to draw enemy fire and encourage his own men.
Despite all his efforts against the Pirates of the West Cork Coast – Button was unable to prevent the single greatest atrocity committed by Pirates in either Ireland or England, when in 1631 the Dutch renegade turned Barbary Corsair Murat Reis landed at Baltimore in West Cork and absconded with the entire population of the town – 107 men, women and children. A courageous seaman and an able navigator, Button had the misfortune to serve during a period of considerable corruption in the English navy, and this is inevitably reflected in his obstinate and intractable behaviour in his old age, and the scores of contentious letters which he wrote to the naval authorities in London concerning the undervictualling of his ships and the monies he believed were owing to him. Most of these arguments had been resolved by 1634 – but Button died before he could receive his back-pay. It is claimed that his ghost has been seen walking the grounds of Duffryn House– his family home in Wales – and he features prominently on the list of England and Ireland’s Naval heroes. However, the gruelling 11 hour action fought at Oysterhaven between two wooden ships has largely been forgotten save for the fading ink on a document nearly 400 years old, reposing in an English archive.
Sources:
‘Ireland and the Irish in Maritime History’ – John De Courcy-Ireland.
‘The Stolen Village’ – Des Ekin.
‘The Mariner’s Mirror’ – Volume 59, Issue 3, 1973. ‘Sir Thomas Button and the defence of the Irish Coast 1614-1622’.
‘Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society’ – 1986 – Pgs. 68-84. ‘The Affairs of Pirates – the surrender and submission of Captain William Baugh at Kinsale 1611-1612.’
Figurehead of HMS Phoenix
Sir Thomas Button
HMS Phoenix – Sir Thomas Button’s ship
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